“I swear by the ash of Yggdrasil that my sword and axe are bound to the Shield Master of the Warband, that my will is that of the Drottin.”

Formed from various warleaders, high ranking Freeholders, and Holders in the year 1290 ATA from several rising powerful guilds in the cities of Norland. The lack of direction for the Holder and Boendr classes led to a growing need for unity as blood feud and intercine warfare reigned free in the Holds. This lack of order and outright chaos led to the creation of increasingly large amounts of men and women sworn to a particular individual or ruling council outside of the general Norlander government.

These “brotherhoods” were formed from hirds or warbands of warriors and craftsman sworn to a particular leadership. Over time they accumulated enough power in the Allthing of Norland to enforce a set of laws giving them nigh autonomy and special jurisdiction int he management of their members. Today the Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods of Norland push forward expeditions, raids, and in some cases even war with other nations or lands.

Art by DiegoGisbertLlorens

Leadership

Each Brotherhood or “Drot” is split evenly into chapters known as Hirds or Warbands. Each warband is led by a Shieldmaster who controls a local Fort. Each sworn Huskarl or retainer of the Warband acts as one and is on equal ground. They swear allegiance to the Shield Master and by proxy the Drottn. Some Brotherhoods are led by titular individuals, some are led by confederation or by a ruling council. They all have their own beliefs on politics, interests in trade or the future.

Identification

Each brotherhood has a set of colors and a blazon or emblem that mark it from the rest. Only members of that Brotherhood are allowed to wear said markings and anyone caught impersonating a member is often beaten on the spot.

The Black Oak Sisterhood

“We are Shield-Maidens born from blood.”

Brotherhood Markings:

Colors and blazon of the Black Oak are a Silver Tree on a Black Field.

Art the noiprox

The Black Oak is the assassin’s guild of Norland and notorious for training and admitting only women. Led by the notorious Dark Circle, and has meddled in the affairs of the Holds for centuries. Most Black Sisters are bound to an oath of silence and primarily act as hired killers for the various powerful Kyn of the Holder Class. Contrary to common belief there are male members of the Sistherhood who act as smiths, trainers and general fighters to back the female asassins of the Black Oak. However females always remain in ruling positions (a contrary aspect to the mainly Patriarch system of rule Norland) and it is oftne the Black Oak who push for raiding and taking land from outsiders. To them the world around is meant to be plundered and riven so they can gain riches to better themselves.

The Black Oak secretly employ and back several Dishonored bands (thieves, outlaws, and assassins) in their overall plans for the Holds. Often using outlaws to push the politics and circumstances in their favor. They are said to secretly also use the Dishonored groups as a means of pulling off their more elaborate assassinations.

The Sisterhood’s primary goals are:

To act as the will of the Norns and gain silver from their clients.

To place favorable nobility in power that will allow them to get what they wish from the Holds.

To track down and learn more about various magics across Altear to use against their enemies.

The Sisterhood is known for:

Running orphanages and supporting lost children.

Investing in oversea projects and trade.

Taking assassin contracts openly and to the highest bidder.

Has ties with Dishonored types in the following manner:

Uses outlaws to raid targets to push them into the Sisterhood’s favor.

Uses thieves, and outlaws to pull off assassination jobs.

The White Oak Brotherhood

“Order shall be brought to the Holds.”

Brotherhood Markings:

Colors and blazon of the White Oak is a White Tree on a Silver Field.

Art by capprotti

The White Oak Brotherhood is the near composite opposite of the Black Oak, and usually resists them in most endeavors. Made up of primarily men of faith and visionary warriors, the White Oak’s primary place in the HOlds is as information dealers and spies. Few goes on in Norland without at least one White Oak Shield Master knowing it happened, and little goes on without their whispers in someones ears. Unlike the Black Oak, teh white Oak does not seek the directly conquer, but prefers to control through the shadows. Some women do exist within the Brotherhood most as attendants and mistresses, while a majority of members are men.

The White Oak is known to employ bandits and thieves in their efforts to gain control over particular items or holdings.

The Brotherhood’s primary goals are:

To gather information and use it to gain power for White Oak backed Holders.

To gain control in foreign lands to bring wealth indirectly back to Norland.

To remove keep a hand on the politics of the Holds to prevent them truly unifying.

The Brotherhood is known for:

Owning several craftsteads and halls across Norland.

Investing in the arts and small individuals to give them a start.

Supporting poor families.

Has ties with Dishonored types in the following manner:

The White Oak is known for employing thieves, and outlaws to bully targets to gain control of items and property.

The Host of Valhalla

“My life for the Throne.”

Brotherhood Markings:

Colors of the Valkyr are light blue and white with a twin ax emblem worn over the right breast of their armor.

The Colors the Einherjar are dark blue and white with their emblem being a pale skull worn over the left breast of their armor.

Art by Maelstromarts

The Host of Valhalla is made up two distinctive orders and is led by the Twin Drottn. Founded by the Allfather himself the emblems for the Host are Hugin and Munin the fabled ravens that stood at Odin’s side in all things. The first order is that of the Valkyr a grim and capable fighting force that defends the honor of the King, and conducts the rights of the dead over the Jarls of the Holds. The second order is the Einherjar, the supposed undying shield of the King himself. Unlike the Valkyr the Einherjar are not guards, but are the personal fighting force of the king and often make up the vanguard of the Norlander forces when the nation goes to war. Throughout most of the history of the Holds, the Host has acted a neutral policing force int he politcs of the Holds, the various Ætts, and the other Brotherhoods.

The Host maintains spies among the outlaws as a means to keep tabs on major threats to the Kingdom. They have also been known to support and even skirt exiles and outlaws away from actions they think are unjust. Strange enough the Kings men and women are often the very ones who secretly prevent his most hated enemies from being killed. The truth is if the Host believes its actions are for the betterment of the realm they will commit them to a point.

The Brotherhood’s primary goals are:

To protect the Kings and the Jarls of the Holds.

To bring order and justice by making sure the right Reeves are appointed.

To defend the land against external threats.

The Brotherhood is known for:

Acting as guards against monstrous threast such as rabid lake serpents, dragan and other monsters.

Defending the people of the lower classes in the Allthing.

Rumored to have killed candidates for the kingship in secret when the Host deemed the candidate unworthy.

Has ties with Dishonored types in the following manner:

Helps the common folk and even Dishonored rebell against who they see as unjust nobility.

Will help people undue their status outlaw status and regain their honor.

The Gullgard League

“Order must be maintained.”

Brotherhood Markings:

Colors and blazon of the League are a rearing Gold Sea Serpent on a Black field.

Art by dracolychee

The Gullgard League was founded a hundred years after the first guilds took power in 1290 ATA. Created in the city of Gullstad, the Gullgarders are formed from individual Holder’s and powerful Rådmen of various steads across the Holds. The Gullgard in many ways represent the counter balance to the growing power of the militant and trader guilds that have come to power in the last few centuries throughout the Holds. The League is lead by a semi-independent confederation of various Drottn who organize the various Shield Masters generally along homestead, Ætt, and Kyn lines. Each member group is nigh independent fromthe other with the entire league holding a Gull-Thing in the city of Gullstad every four years in Svartland. For this reason many int he holds consider the Gullgard to represent the nobility as a hold often as a faction of the more powerful Boendr and Holders in the Allthing.

The League is known for being particularly disliking of Outlaws, and Thieves at times. Their belief in keeping the Brotherhoods at bay however has often seen them take many different viewpoints on the existence of Outlaws. Some Outlaw bands even joined the league and fight in the shadows against the rule of the other Drott (Brotherhoods).

The Brotherhood’s primary goals are:

To protect the Holder and Boendr classes from the ambition of the other Brotherhoods.

To keep order and the status quo within the lands of the Holds.

To make sure a King is elected with a strong sense of the homeland.

To increase wealth for the Holds.

The Brotherhood is known for:

Act as a secondary influence in arbitration and ending feuds when necessary.

Being very open minded and often includes currently feuding groups.

Has a heavy presence in the Allthing.

Investing in outside traders and pushing for greater Aesir influence outside the Holds.

Has ties with Dishonored types in the following manner:

The Gullgard League has a such an open membership in some areas that the warbands participating are actually outlaw, assassin and thief bands.